1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to special receptacles and packages for cast members such as medical and pharmacutical products, and more particularly to a combined mold and carrier dispenser for seamless suppositories.
2. Description of Prior Art
For many years suppositories had been manufactured in a central facility, such as a pharmacutical plant, and they were then shipped to pharmacies wherein a druggist could provide a certain type of suppository under a doctors prescription. Mainly, these suppositories were individually wrapped at the manufacturer in either a transparent film or an aluminum foil covering for convenience and protection of the suppository until the user opened the package. Although these suppositories had a very limited shelf life, a constant supply of fresh suppository packages could be provided to pharmacies so that the patient received a reasonably fresh medical product. About a decade ago, governmental agencies examined this situation wherein the drugs had either an interaction or a degradation that was timewise influenced. For example, an antibiotic type of suppository may have an adequate shelf life of two months in the normal distribution channels where the suppositories were kept in a proper environment. However, the drugs do begin deteriorating upon interblending into the suppository of certain bases. Therefore, government agencies required that these time degrading suppositories were removed from the marketplace. At this time, the pharmacist could not easily prepare a suppository from the products available to them. More particularly, all of the ingredients were available to the pharmacist wherein he could compound a proper suppository under a physicians prescription for a certain patient. However, the pharmacist did not have the necessary materials for molding, wrapping and packaging individually these suppositories in the same manner as had been provided to him by the pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Thus, there is a great need at this time to provide the pharmacist with a system wherein he can conveniently mold a certain prescribed drug into a suppository, and then package it for convenient handling by the patient. There have been many types of molds in which suppositories could be cast, and even some molds that would be usable by pharmacists within their usual practice. However, these molds are very inconvenient for the pharmacist because they require a multitude of special fixtures for use and handling. In addition, the packaging of the molded suppository for delivery to the patient leaves much to be desired.
In accordance with this invention, there is provided a unique mold and carrier which is readily employed by both the pharmacist and the patient who must ultimately utilize the medical drug prescribed by the doctor. In addition, this unique arrangement permits suppositories to be prepared quickly and correctly in a required unit dosage or a range of dosages of medicine and base by the pharmacist following a doctors prescription. As a result, the patient receives a very fresh dose of a certain medication prescribed in a specific amount for his use by a physician.